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Schiff is District Attorney of New York County, and a graduate of Columbia University, where he served on the Law Review. He began his career as an A.D.A. in 1973.[1] He is a pragmatic Democrat of faintly liberal stripe, but regardless of political inclinations, he is never perturbed by his critics nor by uncooperative judges. Political persuasions sometimes cloud his decisions with regard to certain cases such as the death penalty, however; he has moral objections to capital punishment, having written a brief protesting it in 1971,[2] but is not averse to seeking it against a defendant if voters want such a sentence carried out. He is also pro-choice.[3]

While he is often stern and unforgiving in his professional conduct, he has amicable relationships with his assistants. He is closest to Benjamin Stone (Michael Moriarty), and is saddened to see him resign when a witness he is trying to protect is murdered.[4] His relationship with Stone's successor, Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), is more problematic, as McCoy is more ruthless and unconventional, and his habitual bending of trial rules occasionally garners Schiff bad publicity. The two eventually grow to like and respect each other, however.

He has many friends among New York's elite, including powerful politicians, judges, and businessmen. Over the show's run, however, many of these friends prove themselves to be either corrupt or hiding secrets. The politician who first asked that he run for District Attorney, Edward Vogel, later tries to use their relationship to quash the prosecution of his son's murderer to avoid having his son's homosexuality revealed. [5] In another case, one of his closest friends, Judge Edgar Hynes, commits suicide after being caught taking bribes. [6] Another, Carl Anderton (Robert Vaughn), a high-powered CEO, is discovered to be suffering from bipolar disorder and attempts to arrange an unjust punishment for his similarly affected grandson, who killed his half-brother while in a manic state, to hide his own condition.[7] The once solid friendship destroyed, Anderton seeks vengeance and backs Schiff's opponent in a primary election,[8] although Schiff is subsequently reelected.[9]

In 1997, Schiff's wife has a stroke that puts her in a vegetative state. She dies after he elects to have her taken off of life support.[10] Their son Josh is mentioned in several episodes, as are Josh's own wife and son, but he never appears on screen.